The Straits Kicked My Butt Today

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by Strait Shooter

I think I'll go sailing Saturday!

[CharlieCobra]

My wife got her first westher experience with me crossing from Roche Harbor to PT one June. Nice, clear air gale on the beam against a big ebb. It made for a wild ride and we did 40 nm in four hours. It's one thing to surf waves from astern, quite another on the beam....

[hogfighter]

I was on the USS Lincoln, flying F/A-18s, when we were practicing night operations in the straits. I've been all over the world, but had never seen the aircraft carrier bob around like it did in that area! My plane was sliding all over the deck as I taxied up to the catapult.....all I could think of, was that any minute they'd cancel flight ops for the night. The deck must have been moving +/- 30 feet...waves coming over the bow, and that's 60 feet in the air. (They never did cancel, BTW)....I can't even imagine single-handing a sailboat during something like that.

[CharlieCobra]

It get interesting when you're heeled at 45* and then go to 70* before the boat hardens up and goes surfing.... Ya know it's touchy when ya look over your shoulder seeing nothing but green and look to the leeward side without seeing the bottom of that same wave. Helluva ride. I saw 12 knots on the GPS against the ebb. That was my second time surfing along the face of waves in Oh Joy but the first intentional one. The Wife spent that fours hours on the companionway steps. Too afraid to go below or come out. Surprisingly, that ride was the one that convinced her she could handle cruising. Go figure....

[Strait Shooter]

Originally Posted by hogfighter

The deck must have been moving +/- 30 feet...waves coming over the bow, and that's 60 feet in the air. (They never did cancel, BTW)....I can't even imagine single-handing a sailboat during something like that.

And I can't even imagine trying to land on a deck that's moving as much as what you describe.